“The message is clear to players and coaches that anyone throwing punches will face time in the sin-bin.

“The fact that two players were charged from last night gives some weight to the decisions of the referees on the field in relation to them.

“One can argue the merits of the other two decisions and I will be discussing those further with the referees involved, but people who escalate situations by pushing and shoving or by ‘running in’ from a distance have to accept that they are taking a huge risk and that won’t change.”